What's your Media Preference?

GrumpySquatch said:
Keep it all analog. Better yet, just go digital already. LPs have problems of their own.

The RIAA standard has real limitations. RIAA equalization - Wikipedia
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Now you're talking over my head and I'm getting ahead of myself here anyway. If I decide this is what I want to do I'm sure I'll start a new thread asking for advice when the time comes, I don't want to de-rail this thread anymore than I already have. I'm serious about it, but I'm pretty buzzed so I need to put a pin in it for now.

:cheers:
 
DirtySteve said:
Now you're talking over my head and I'm getting ahead of myself here anyway. If I decide this is what I want to do I'm sure I'll start a new thread asking for advice when the time comes, I don't want to de-rail this thread anymore than I already have. I'm serious about it, but I'm pretty buzzed so I need to put a pin in it for now.

:cheers:
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Yeah, I'm a recovering tech nut. I was trying to state the audio standard for the manufacture of LPs was devised the same the year the Stratocaster came out - 1954. Was a compromise then and antiquity today.

The Strat is still quite relevant.

Digital audio will continue to get better.
 
Amp Mad Scientist said:
I think CD works better for me.
I can load it into Sound Forge, increase the bit rate, and store it as a file or burn it to CD.
Of course the files become much larger than normal but it seems to solve the compression that is typical of CDs. It sounds better than the original when the bit rate is increased....
I used to have a lot of LPs but cleaning them all the time became a chore.
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Have you ripped with FLAC? Smaller files with increased definition and sampling rate.

There are two rippers I have used for the past several years; Exact Audio Copy and GitHub - gchudov/cuetools.net: CD image processing suite with optimized lossless encoders in C#

Both are fast, versatile and very accurate. EAC is the easiest to use out of the box with no setting tweaks, but would encourage you to see what options there are.

Audacity can be a great ripper too: Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!
 
DirtySteve said:
Do you really need an expensive system to play vinyl? I'm all over this now and I see there are a lot of mini systems out there with a turn table. Are they any good? Maybe this doesn't have to cost as much as I thought it would. :hmmm:
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I'd have to think 500 to a grand would have to get you going pretty well with vinyl gear. I had my eye on about $1500, but I just can't do that because I'm not THAT into it. I like having the limited edition vinyl for collections sake and maybe one day I'll pull in a new system. Who knows.

At one time I was pretty well versed in vinyl gear and can say it's an art of its own, regarding equipment - there are needle cartridges alone costing in the thousands and all kinds of different cables, wires, and configurations that will blow your mind out. An audiophile connoisseur is no slouch by any means. Now, does that mean you (we) have to take it that far? No, but how do you (we) know haw far to take it al all?? Lol. For example, do you want a belt drive table or direct drive? How thick of a platter ...made of what? It's just one thing another really.

I also know that I have to plunge back into that world if I get into a new system. Compound having to do that with that fact that I'm not completely interested in it currently makes for a big job and some serious procrastination.

Vinyl Gear ..I'm speaking of turntable only, BTW.
 
DirtySteve said:
Do you really need an expensive system to play vinyl? I'm all over this now and I see there are a lot of mini systems out there with a turn table. Are they any good? Maybe this doesn't have to cost as much as I thought it would. :hmmm:
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I think I bought one of the old Denon turntables for about $100 and have a pioneer receiver I got from a thrift store.
That being said they have some pretty fancy tables now $1000
 
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GrumpySquatch said:
Cassettes 8-tracks were the worst. Cassettes were merely OK for the era. We'd tape out favorite LPs so as not to wear them out as they are simply too fragile. Many of us borrowed LPs with friends to expand our collection. The record companies all insisted we'd kill music through theft.

Homemade cassettes from a decent LP stereo of the day were far better than what the record companies tried to sell us. Chrome or metal tape formulas far surpassed the original ferric oxide.

Pre-recorded cassettes were mass produced garbage using the absolute cheapest materials available, recording at many times the normal speed for fast production. That kills fidelity you know...
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I remember guys that would buy the record and a tape. They were the big kids with jobs. Lol.
 
GrumpySquatch said:
Have you ripped with FLAC? Smaller files with increased definition and sampling rate.

There are two rippers I have used for the past several years; Exact Audio Copy and GitHub - gchudov/cuetools.net: CD image processing suite with optimized lossless encoders in C#

Both are fast, versatile and very accurate. EAC is the easiest to use out of the box with no setting tweaks, but would encourage you to see what options there are.

Audacity can be a great ripper too: Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!
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I have used FLAC and Linux OGG VORBIS
Audacity will always be on my computer.
Also from Linux creators.
 
I’ve used Spotify since it was launched, I actually git an early access account before it was fully open to the public. I’ve been a paying customer for nearly as long. Spotify is convenient, I can listen to whatever I want, whenever I want.

Having said that, my preferred media is vinyl. I have records, I have a stereo system with a pretty decent turntable, and I listen regularly. Sometimes I use spotify to audition records before I buy them.

Do I think vinyl sounds better? Sometimes. There are definitely vinyl recordings that sound like crap though. My version of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid is one of them.
 
We got married in 78. Made do with a cheap stereo until sometime in the 80s. Bought us a decent component system. Amp (30w/channel), receiver, Technics turntable and killer speakers (3-way w/12" woofers). Along the way we added a cassette deck. It died so we replaced it. Added a CD player (which has also died) after they came out. We still have all of it. Just never set it up after we moved in '02 to where we live now. I have the Amp, receiver and speakers set up in the garage and have it set up to use the Aux to run music from my phone. Not sure how well the turntable works. It blew the belt and after I replaced it, it just doesn't seem to want to equalize the speed... be it 45 or 33. Keeps fluctuating.

So it is possible I could get everything set up somewhere cleaner than the garage and try and see if the turntable would work itself out of it's issue with speed.
 
I usually go to Amazon Music first. I purchase & download for long term storage.
I also scour music stores when in the U.S. for CDs, which I then rip to my computers and phone.

I do not like streaming for a number of reasons, one of which is our inconsistent internet signal availability and my frequent visits to offshore & coastal sites for archaeological work where internet is often unavailable.
 
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Should add. While not for storage for future play. These days I listen to satellite radio a lot. Started in my car…. Then found the app for my phone. Not hi fidelity, but it serves my purpose. Pull up the app and use my phone as a radio. If I’m in the garage I will play it thru the stereo I have set up out there via Bluetooth.
 
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My media preference?

I prefer a digital download. I purchase music via iTunes and keep it on my phone.

I don't usually purchase music to just listen to it. I usually purchase it because I'm learning the song and I may use another app on my phone to isolate sections I'm learning, or to slow those sections down, or even change the pitch of the song if I'm learning it in a different key.

I've done some streaming and I have a Spotify account, but I rarely use it.
 
Memory sticks ! I have 32GB sticks in all my vehicles as that’s where I listen to the most music. Ripped at high bit rates from CDs or albums.
 
Sapient said:
Really? I find that 24 bit audio sounds great. 16 can be like you say, I think.
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I don't know why, but to me, tape and vinyl sound more raw and organic.. I somehow prefer that to digital media, which is a bit boring and too perfect. The pops and cracks of analogue media give it life.
 
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